


Rainy Day: A Collection of Short Stories

by antiRePurp



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, i'll add more as i progress and include charas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-08-14 10:09:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16490570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antiRePurp/pseuds/antiRePurp
Summary: Taking place after "Back to the Holler", this collection of short stories and oneshots sheds light onto the events that occur after Infinite the Jackal was defeated by the resistance on July 27th, 20XX. "Rainy Day" was mostly created out of my desire to further explore Infinite's character, and as such a majority of the stories can be expected to be from his point of view. The chapters are titled after the dates they occur at to establish some kind of a timeline in the midst of this all. "Rainy Day" might never be marked as completed, but it should perhaps be treated as such as each chapter is it's own thing, and there is no clear plot between them (hence why it is a collection of short stories).





	1. August 19th, 20XX

The city was in ruins. It wasn’t anything special, though. Fixing the damages Infinite (and Eggman, more or less) had caused would be taking years. Ava and Infinite walked through the destruction made of ruined buildings and blocks of cement, scouting the area. More people had been reported as missing in the area, and the two were looking for them. Infinite followed Ava’s lead; the dog knew how to go about these things better than he did. He didn’t feel like bossing around anyway, in fact he hadn’t really felt like doing much since the resistance had defeated him. Infinite had mostly stayed in the resistance’s HQ for the past couple of weeks, as for some reason everyone had decided to not turn him in on the police forces or the government or whatever. Infinite hadn’t asked about it, but in a way he was glad. He was scared of what the people in power would do to him, a mobian, for nearly destroying the entire world. The relief of not having to stress about it for the time being was immense. But it’s not like he could stay indoors forever.

“Everyone needs fresh air sometimes,” Ava had explained earlier, when she had insisted on taking Infinite with her to locate missing folks. The rest of the resistance had been skeptical (Infinite didn’t blame them for it), but had allowed Ava to do as she wished. Infinite hadn’t understood why, and he still didn’t. Nonetheless he and Ava had departed for a city some distance away from Red Bay, and were now at the heart of the place. It was a bit cloudy, and a cool breeze cut through the air every now and then as a reminder of the approaching fall. Infinite clenched his bag. Ava had given it to him, and it contained water and various snacks, like chocolate bars.

“That city is destroyed,” Ava had explained. “No way anyone’s taking care of their basic needs in a place like that. The people we find won’t be doing too hot, they’ll need some food and water.” She had thought of everything. Even if Infinite didn’t want to admit it, Ava was better at leading and organizing than he was. Maybe it was because she had been in the military or something, whatever she had done six years ago. Infinite didn’t know. It’s not like he had asked.

The dog and the jackal had been walking in silence the whole time. Infinite hadn’t payed much attention to it. The walking gave him some room to think. He still wasn’t quite sure why Ava had saved him, or why she was acting relatively nice towards him. She had said something about believing in people, yeah, but Infinite figured those were just kind words. There was no hope for Infinite, after all. He wasn’t a good person, and there was no way he could become one after everything he had done. People would always see him as a threat, a ruthless mercenary. Perhaps he had wanted that at one point in his life, yes, but that was when his friends were still alive...

“Infinite,” Ava broke the jackal out of his thoughts. She was standing on a pile of rubble and cement blocks.

“Someone’s over there,” she said. Infinite jumped up to the pile as well and looked down. Further along the street was a human, laying on the ground next to more pieces of concrete. Ava jumped down and begun jogging up to them, and Infinite followed her example.

“Hey!” Ava called out as she approached the human. “You okay?” The human’s head turned a bit in response. Infinite caught up with Ava, and stared at the person on the ground. From the looks of things they had passed out, and had just woken up.

“Uhhh, y-yeah,” the human answered. Ava offered them her hand, and helped them up.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Uh, it’s Kris...”

“Last name? That would also be helpful.” Ava continued to chat with the human, asking about how they got here, if they were injured, and where they lived, all the while patching up their bruises and and cuts. Infinite observed, afraid to intervene. Ava knew what she was doing, unlike Infinite. He was just standing there with his bag of snacks.

“Zero,” Ava said. “Can I have a water bottle.” Infinite raised his eyebrow.

“W-what?”

“A water bottle,” Ava repeated. “Please?” Infinite blinked and reached for his bag, stumbling through the contents and handing Ava a bottle of water.

“Thank you,” she said, and resumed chatting with the human. Infinite frowned. What was up with the nicknames all of a sudden? He didn’t think they were really in that friendly of a territory just yet. Infinite let it slide for the time being, though. He could ask about that later, maybe.

“Alright, Kris,” Ava said. “We can’t exactly get you home by ourselves, especially from here. But I know some people who can. I’ll message them and ask them to track you down and pick you up, okay? Just hold on to this tracker so they can find you.” Ava handed the human a small, round disk. A light was flashing on it.

“O-okay,” the human replied. “How long will it take?”

“Hopefully around 30 minutes. We can’t stay here, there are other people who need us too, but this city should be safe from mercenaries.” Infinite shifted his eyes at the ground at the mention of the word.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be here until sundown. If they haven’t picked you up by then, we’ll come and find you and escort you someplace safe,” Ava smiled encouragingly. “Take care, okay?” The human nodded, and waved after Ava and Infinite. Ava waved back, but Infinite felt a bit too awkward to do the same. After he and Ava had walked some distance he cleared his throat.

“Zero?” he asked. Ava gave him a quick look.

“I saw how they looked at you. They might have recognized you, or thought they did. I figured it’s be safer if I called you literally anything but the name you’ve been yelling out for six years now,” she explained. “Might cause some suspicion otherwise, y’know?” Infinite swallowed. He hadn’t really thought about that, actually. Sure he had worn a mask, but he had a certain look to himself alright.

“Why... why are you so nice to me?” he suddenly asked. “I was.. no, I am a jerk. It doesn’t make any sense.” Ava sighed.

“Every person has the potential to be a good one,” she said. “Even you.”

“What about... the people I killed? Your team, and, and... yeah.” Infinite couldn’t quite say Shadow’s name out loud. He really didn’t know how he was supposed to feel about the deceased hedgehog.

“Shadow and I weren’t that close, y’know?” Ava explained. “Of course I’m not okay with what you did, but... I guess the emotional hit of it wasn’t that deep. As for my team...” The dog was silent for a moment.

“I did say I would never forgive you.” Infinite swallowed. It made perfect sense, and he didn’t doubt Ava’s words. But why did it make him feel so... terrible? Why hadn’t he felt terrible about killing others before? Had he been that blinded by revenge? Why wasn’t he so angry about his squad members anymore, anyway? He had been raging for six years but the moment he had killed Shadow he... he had become so sad. Sad and afraid. And lonely. Well, after Ava had removed the prototype from his chest and the pain had ended, that is.

“A-Ava, I-”

“There’s another person,” Ava interrupted the jackal. “Mind if I call you Zero for the rest of this thing? Unless you enjoy playing with fire.”

“N-no, it’s... fine. Yeah.”

“Good. Come on, we haven’t got all day.”


	2. September 7th, 20XX

“Rouge called,” Amy said, breaking the silence in the monitor room. Infinite raised his head and looked across the room. He and Amy were the only people present, but he still wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or just mumbling out loud. Amy turned around in her chair and looked at Infinite.

“She’ll be here soon,” she continued. “...just thought I’d let you know.” Amy turned back to the monitors, typing something on her keyboard. Infinite pulled back his ears and leaned back on the couch. Rouge. She was the bat, wasn’t she? The one who always hung around with Shadow. Infinite frowned. Yeah. They must’ve been close friends. He recalled seeing her when Sonic and Ava brought him back to the resistance’s HQ. She... she hadn’t been very happy about it, had she now? Infinite hadn’t seen her since. He felt like he shouldn’t be quitting that streak any time soon. Infinite swallowed and got up from the couch. Amy looked at him from the corner of her eye, saying nothing. Infinite shifted his eyes to the floor for a moment, and begun walking towards the door. The moment he placed his hand on the handle the door opened, forcing him to back up. Infinite inhaled sharply. Rouge had arrived sooner then he thought. The bat had a cold look in her eyes. Infinite stepped back, allowing Rouge to walk in. Neither of them said anything. Amy turned around in her chair again, surprised at the sight of Rouge.

“Oh, I thought you would’ve taken longer,” she marveled. Rouge was quiet for a moment.

“...Omega didn’t come,” she finally said. “It’s easier to get through your doors without him.” A small smile visited Amy’s lips, but not for long. Infinite blinked, hesitating for just a moment, but quickly slipped through the door and left the room. He wasn’t wanted there. He probably wasn’t wanted anywhere.

***

The monitor room’s door opened with a creak. Infinite peeked in. No one was inside. He let out a sigh and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. The lights were off, but some of the monitors were still on, shining a cold, blue to the rest of the room. Infinite didn’t really care. He had been sleeping in this light for the past month of so, it didn’t bother him at this point. He sat down on the couch, his designated bed for the time being, and took off his gloves. He stared at his hands idly, and clenched his other fist. Once again his thoughts wandered off to the power the Phantom Ruby had given him, how he had been unstoppable. How he had been able to do anything he wanted. Make all his dreams come true. Well, all but one. Even the ruby wasn’t able to bring back the dead. Infinite let out a sigh and rubbed his face. He was too tired for this shit.

“So it’s true, huh?” a voice broke the silence. “You are as edgy as they say.” Infinite’s ears perked and he rapidly looked around the room. He saw no one.

“Who is it?” he hissed.

“Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” A figure dropped down from the ceiling and landed next to the couch. Rouge. Infinite frowned.

“...when... how did you-”

“That’s not important,” she interrupted the jackal. “Amy wanted us to talk.”

“Amy?” Rouge exhaled deeply.

“...I don’t know what her motives are, I don’t know why she thinks this is a good idea,” she began. “But she insisted on it. I wouldn’t dare to let her down.” Infinite swallowed. No, this didn’t seem like a good idea at all. But Amy didn’t seem mean-spirited, either. Perhaps she was genuinely trying to be nice? Infinite cleared his throat.

“Did she, uh... want us to talk about something specific?” he asked, being aware that it was a stupid question. Rouge looked at the jackal from the corner of her eye.

“You know exactly what she wants us to talk about,” she said. Infinite swallowed again. Rouge certainly wasn’t making this easy for him. He shifted his eyes to the floor, avoiding looking at Rouge.

“I... I know this won’t sound genuine. I know. But I... I’m... I’m sorry. I... I really am,” Infinite stammered. “...you don’t have to forgive me. I... I understand.” Rouge sighed.

“I don’t care,” she said. “...I don’t care.” Infinite raised his eyebrows. He... hadn’t exactly been expecting that kind of response, not that he was expecting her to forgive him, either, but...

“No amount of kind words will bring him back,” Rouge continued. “Your forgiveness won’t undo your actions.” Infinite shut his eyes and sighed. He knew that. He wasn’t an idiot.

“...I just figured I... wouldn’t be an asshole for once,” he explained quietly. Rouge didn’t respond for a while. She turned to look at the beckoning light of the monitors.

“...why did you do it?” she asked quietly. The jackal looked up and raised an eyebrow. That was... an unexpected question.

“Well?” Rouge encouraged him. “Or did you have no reason at all?”

“No, I...” Infinite bit his lip. “He... I had, a team. A squad, that’s what we called it. It was just us, against the world. And he...” Infinite’s voice died out, and he had to clear his throat.

“He and Eggman, they... they killed them.” Rouge was silent for a moment.

“Shadow never killed a person in his life,” she said. Infinite frowned. Shadow himself had said so, too. Perhaps it was the truth, but Infinite couldn’t help but to suspect that he and Rouge were lying. After all, Shadow had been extremely powerful, just like Infinite. And Infinite had caused so much destruction with the Phantom Ruby. What reason did he have to believe that Shadow hadn’t done the same? Rouge sighed, breaking Infinite out of his thoughts.

“...I suppose I can see why Amy wanted this,” she admitted, more or less reluctantly. “We’ve both lost people dear to us.” Infinite didn’t know how to reply.

“...this doesn’t mean I will forgive you,” Rouge added. Infinite looked away from her.

“...I understand,” he answered. Rouge hesitated for a moment, giving a thought or two to Infinite’s words, then approached the door. Without saying another word she walked out of the room. Once the door had closed Infinite leaned back on the couch and tried to relax. He wasn’t really sure what just happened or if anything was even remotely more okay than it had been previously. All he knew was that he was tired as hell, and ready to go to sleep. Infinite kicked off his shoes and nestled on the couch. Maybe it’d be all clear to him tomorrow.


End file.
